The "How Do I Write for This Instrument?" Thread

[Callenby]

(When looking through the archive I didn't see a thread like this, but if I did miss one then I apologize.)

When working primarily or solely with virtual instruments (and that includes voice!) you may have forgotten about their strengths and limitations and wind up writing something that would be unrealistic for an actual human performer. Maybe you're interested in writing for the viola d'amore or harp, but were unsure how to go about it. Or maybe you feel that your favorite instrument is criminally under-appreciated.

This thread is meant to help with that, to provide some pointers on instrumental composition, shed light on overlooked instruments, and perhaps inspire some people to make more creative use of them.

Playing the instrument yourself is preferable but not required. You can post about anything you feel deserves to be better understood.

Of course, not everyone has the best VSTs and even some high quality ones don't include every feature or technique. But it's still important for a composer to know as much about the instruments they're writing for as possible.

I'll provide an example of what I'm thinking of. It will be for the cello since that's what I'm most familiar with.



Cello/Violoncello

Range:


Favorite/notable solos and performances:
1. (Obligatory) Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites
2. Bruch's Kol Nidrei
3. Schubert's Piano Trio in E-flat major, 2nd mvt.
4. Boccherini's Complete Cello Concertos

Common mistakes and misconceptions:
The cello, like its string relatives, is capable of much more than playing just legato block notes. It can also do pizzicato, tremolo, double/triple/quadruple stops, col legno, con sordina, et al. It's much more than simply something to fill out the bass part! It has incredible range and is highly emotive, so make use of that! It is more than capable of leading a performance. For much of the western musical canon, violins were thought of as the primary solo instrument but thankfully since then the cello has garnered quite a few beautiful solos and a reputation for being an expressive instrument in its own right.

Dos and Don'ts:
Dos: Do vary! A common cellist complaint is parts that are too much like Pachelbel's Canon, and that goes for pretty much any instrument, really. Do make use of the cello's range. It can play many different octaves, and you can achieve a more unique and expressive sound make utilizing this feature. Do change dynamics. Volume is a pretty simple way of applying emotion and resonance. Plus, playing at the same dynamic the whole time gets boring for the performer. Do know and make use your instrumentation! If you're going to have a cello at all then it would be wise to know exactly what you're trying to achieve with it.
Don'ts: Don't write only block notes and chords. Those are quite dull to play and most of the time they're uninteresting for the listener to hear. But also don't write anything that is beyond human capability (such as constant hundred twenty-eighth notes at a super fast tempo or a double stop that would require the same string). Don't give the cello the exact same role as your other instruments. Just as you should vary your cello's role, you should vary all your roles so that it's more engaging for the listener.



Agree that this is a good idea, think that it's terrible, did I leave this out, am I dead wrong about that? By all means, say so!

My hope is to have a concentrated source where people don't have to scroll through pages and pages of nonessential posts to find the information that they're looking for. So, I'm thinking that if you're wanting to suggest edits to this post or someone else's then please send it as a PM instead.

[FLAOFEI]

You know what pisses me off? Boring drum patterns.

You don't just go kick snare kick snare with four hats and then repeat the same fill throughout a song.
You add some open hats, some ghost hits on the snare, give it some variation, rim hits, whatever.

I doubt this is something to do with skills to make cool, interesting drum patterns. I think it's more about laziness, since people usually manage to make one interesting beat, then repeat it.
did I do it right :I

[Acsii]

Can someone give me some tips for writing for Brass instruments? particularly Frecnch Horn, Trombone, and Trumpet

[Callenby]

did I do it right :I

You've got the right idea, but I was thinking about having a profile for each instrument in the same format as what I wrote. That way it would be consistent, relatively thorough, and easily-read information.

[Fimbulin]

Here's a good guide written by Dr Dissonance that characterizes your instruments.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/12pv ... Qt5v8/edit

[Alycs]

Dos: Do vary! A common cellist complaint is parts that are too much like Pachelbel's Canon, and that goes for pretty much any instrument, really.

^THIS! From playing to at least a small degree most of the orchestral instruments, I have to say that the most tedious thing in the world is being stuck playing the same notes over and over again. Thats why even though Pachelbel's Kanon is super fun for violin, its hell for cello's. Even with digital composition, remember to give your instrumentalists a break. Throw in an arpeggio, an extended run, a (depending on the instrument) perpetua locamota or Alberti bass. Not only do they make the song more fun for the (hypothetical) players, but it makes it more interesting to listen to.

---
However, being primarily a pianist, I just want to throw something out there:
THE PIANO IS ALLOWED TO BE INTERESTING
Seriously, half the songs I hear with piano in them sound like the composer is convinced that they can only play chords and simple melodies. Thats just not true. The piano has one of the largest ranges of any single acoustic instrument, and a good pianist can take full advantage of that; and guess what... your DAW is effectively a pianist that never misses a note. As long as you stick within the ranges of what is humanly possible (11 voice harmony is not) you can do just about anything. So instead of just laying down a chord progression, how about you add some fifths and octaves, maybe a few grace notes and trills, a arpeggio up the keyboard etc. Any of those will take your piano parts from being boring and obviously-sequenced to interesting and convincing.

Also, for any FL studio users, the Randomize tool is great for adding character to the performance and making the entire thing less robotic.

[Conchetupony]

Also, for any (any decent DAW with MIDI support) users, the Randomize tool is great for adding character to the performance and making the entire thing less robotic.

Fixed, and agree. Not humanizing is a common big mistake when programming an instrument meant to be played by a human. Recording the score yourself (with a MIDI controller or your computer's keyboard) can also help - you can always fix ugly mistakes later.

Here's one for electric bass, and perhaps bass instruments overall. While sticking to the root note often works, it's a very uninteresting approach to writing bass parts. Bring some action to it using passing tones between chords (just like you would when writing melody), or bringing it to the spotlight in a fill.

[SticktheFigure]

As long as you stick within the ranges of what is humanly possible (11 voice harmony is not) you can do just about anything. .

You tellin' me you can't hit two keys with your thumb?
Pfft, amateur.

[Conduit]

@callenby I would like to point out that unless your playing pizz it's impossible to do triple or quad stops on a cello, the strings are angled so that anything more this a double stop doesn't really work.

[Callenby]

@callenby I would like to point out that unless your playing pizz it's impossible to do triple or quad stops on a cello, the strings are angled so that anything more this a double stop doesn't really work.

Yeah, I wasn't clear with my wording. While it's true you can't feasibly use more than two strings at a time with a bow, triple and quadruple stops are still viable techniques. They are often interpreted as a double stop plus a note or two double stops played in rapid succession.

[Fimbulin]

Harpsichords are amazing because they have one and only one velocity layer. The note is 100% volume always. I've never seen a dynamic harpsichord. In order to get the music to flow with passion the ancient composers without pianos had to rely on their music theory to bring out emotional contrasts.

One way to get some good evilish sounds from your harpsichord is to record them from your MIDI keyboard. A personal touch on timing variation is one of the keys to making harpsichords sound so grand and not mechanical. Doing this by hand or a randomizer doesn't cut it, sadly. :\

One thing that's fascinating to study is a compositional method that uses figured bass. It's on wiki if you want to do a quick search. Creating music using that method is a great way to put some harpsichord into your music. Also, using figured bass you can essentially write counterpoint and have a full sound in your musical piece.

[Alycs]

Harpsichords are amazing because they have one and only one velocity layer. The note is 100% volume always. I've never seen a dynamic harpsichord. In order to get the music to flow with passion the ancient composers without pianos had to rely on their music theory to bring out emotional contrasts.

One way to get some good evilish sounds from your harpsichord is to record them from your MIDI keyboard. A personal touch on timing variation is one of the keys to making harpsichords sound so grand and not mechanical. Doing this by hand or a randomizer doesn't cut it, sadly. :\

As Fimbulin said, harpsichords don't naturally have any dynamic contrast; however, many of the extremely important harpsichords had multiple levels of keyboards, much like an organ. Moreover, as the baroque tuning system was the "well-tempered" system, every instrument had a unique tuning. The notes would always be close to the same, but usually not exactly. Therefore, one of the thing I've found that works very well is to make multiple tracks (usually about 3) for harpsichords [organs too but thats another instrument] and have each of them tuned very slightly differently, and then have a small HP/LP filter on two of them to give the deeper or higher feel without changing pitch. This way, you can have polyphony even if they are all playing the same note, and it allows you to write very convincing harmonies and create the illusion of dynamics by adding more voices in parallel/unison to each-other.

[CitricAcid]

Can someone give me some tips for writing for Brass instruments? particularly Frecnch Horn, Trombone, and Trumpet

I play French horn, so I can hopefully be of some help. Any particular kind of advice you are looking for?

As with writing for any instrument, make sure you use the range in which the instrument sounds best at least some of the time. For trumpet this is roughly from g' to g'' and for horn c' to c'' (concert pitch, obviously). Pay attention to how long your phrases and/or held notes are so that your (hypothetical) performers have time to breathe. If you're using MIDI, then please automate the modulation and/or expression as you play. Use it to crescendo and diminuendo in and out of phrases at least, add extra emphasis to important notes, etc. It will make it sound more real and less MIDI. Also don't just write single melodic lines for brass. Orchestras typically have 4 horn parts, 3 trumpet parts, and 3 trombone parts (give or take), so make use of them.

If you're interested in writing for live French horn then all sorts of other options open up what with extended techniques and all.

[Callenby]

Yo, if anyone is interested I could write profiles for other instruments like I did for the cello. But if you want one for something less traditional like the erhu then that'll have to wait for me to do the proper research first.

Just let me know.